Doors are commonly mounted by hinges to a door jamb or frame to allow the door to swing between open and closed positions. In the open position of the door, a gap is formed between the hinged edge of the door and the door jamb. This gap closes when the door is moved to the closed position, creating a dangerous pinching area that can cause serious injury to fingers or other body parts caught within the closing gap, as well as potentially causing damage to other objects caught within the closing gap. Finger injuries that result from fingers getting caught within the gap are especially troublesome, as the forces generated by the closing door are quite substantial, and can often times result in the crushing of the finger(s), or even severing of the finger(s) from the hand. Children are especially prone to such injuries as their relatively small fingers and hands can easily fit into the gap.
Numerous prior art devices are known for trying to prevent fingers and other objects from getting caught within the gap between the hinge edge of a door and the door jamb. These devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,084 which discloses a finger guard designed with multiple leafs and numerous "living" hinges. Due to the relatively large number of leafs and "living" hinges, manufacturing of the shield is difficult and the chances for failure of one of the "living" hinges is increased. U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,267 discloses a shield device that is intended to be placed within the gap. However, this device will not work with many existing doors and may cause door hardware (e.g. hinges, door closers and door stops) to bend and/or otherwise be damaged. U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,084 teaches the use of four strips to create a "web" that retains sufficient resilience to shield the gap from fingers while closing the door, as well as teaching the use of further strips to secure the four strips to the door and frame.
However, none of the prior art devices will work with panic push bar exit devices, or on doors that open a full 180 degrees. Furthermore, many conventional shield devices create a force on the door that tend to resist the opening and closing movements of the door thereby making door movement difficult and possibly resulting in damage to the door and/or door hardware. Conventional shield devices also tend to have a relatively large number of hinges, which increases the potential for a failure of one of the hinges. Thus, a shield device should be designed to have as few hinges as possible in order to reduce the chance of failure of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,708 to Lucas et al. discloses a self-trimming shield device that is designed to neatly fold against the door so as to preserve the appearance of the door trim. This device, however, limits the extent to which the door can swing open, since contact between the hinge edge of the door and the shield, which occurs when the door swings past a certain point, will likely cause damage to the shield device.
There is a need for an improved protective shield for covering a pinch-void area defined by a door jamb and a door, and that can work on all door swings up to 180 degrees, as well as working with door push bar devices, and which is simple in design to reduce the chance of failure.